The Violence Of Absence
by who-is-kiba
Summary: You learn a lot of things in the 'spy' business, but there are two very important things you have to be able to cope with. The first thing a spy must deal with is letting go of someone precious to you. The second is accepting the possibility of your own death.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

People usually think of spies as _seriously_ badass, good-looking people who do _seriously_ badass stuff for the good of their country. They see movies about them, they watch their fights. They watch their wins, their highs, and their lows on the big screen. They think, _man! It'd be so fucking cool if I could be as kick-ass as that spy._ They think a spy's hardest challenge is whether or not they look as great as they think they do when walking away from an explosion going off behind them, like it was nothing.

And sometimes, it can be that way. Lord knows there are enough spies in the Konoha Intelligence Agency whose sole purpose, it seems, was to do just that. Who thought they were 'all that' and a bag of chips.

But the first thing a spy must learn to deal with is accepting loss - especially the loss of someone close to you. As a spy, there are more risks and less miracles than you would think. Your enemy is good. Really good. Probably as good as you, maybe even better. Any move you make could kill you and, or your entire team. You have to be good, great, _amazing_ \- and there was _no_ such thing as an 'off day'. Your teachers tell you to bring a hundred and fifty percent to school everyday, _spies have to bring it three hundred percent for every single moment_. Every move, every command, _every breath._

But there is no such thing as perfect. And in this line of work, you have to accept that your loved ones were not fucking kick-ass and amazing enough to stay alive. Or, you have to accept that your loved one gave their lives to save others. And you have to accept that there was nothing that could have been done.

 _The first thing a spy must deal with is letting go of someone precious to you._

The second, accepting the possibility of your own death.

" _Sasuke Uchiha, you have hereby been called to work in Squad Seven, under superior Kakashi Hatake, with two teammates, Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno. You will be roomed together in the boys' dorm with Agent Uzumaki, in dorm Genin. Superior Kakashi Hatake will call on you and your teammates sometime in the next two months, after initiate training, with details on your first assignment._

 _Congrats on graduating from the Academy, and welcome to the KIA. Any questions?"_

It was just like you expected a high-class party to be. There was music that played in the background, people swaying together on the dance floor, the soft, but distinct sounds of voices fluttering around the fourteen year old, now-graduated young spy, Sasuke Uchiha. Other newly graduated agents mingled with their families and friends in the fanciest tuxes and flashiest dresses. Occasionally, there would be a laugh that resonated higher than any other noise in the ballroom, but that, too, would fade away into the background.

Sasuke himself was dressed in one of his finest suits, sitting at his table stubbornly, away from all the music and dancing, the talking and the socializing. His black hair glinted darkly in the bright lights, and his eyes were stuck in a glare of some sort, yet it didn't seem to take any beauty away from him.

He hated these parties. Always did and probably always would.

Maybe it was the fact that this kind of celebrating made no sense to him. Why would you celebrate something so trivial? Of course they all graduated. That wasn't the important part. The important part of graduating was that they were _agents_ now. They were official spies, and they were needed on the field.

"Well isn't this surprising?" a voice said beside him, and Sasuke turned to look at the newcomer. "Sasuke, sitting all by himself, away from socializing. How odd."

Sasuke tried not to smile too widely. "Itachi."

"Congrats on graduating," Sasuke's brother, Itachi, said, sitting beside him at the table where the young agent sat and passed him a champagne glass full of punch. Sasuke took it gratefully. "Although, I guess it's not surprising, what with our background."

Sasuke took a small sip of the punch Itachi had gotten for him, now gazing thoughtfully towards the ballroom wall. "Thanks."

It was a brief response, which might seem a bit off putting to others, but for the brothers, it was enough. Neither had ever really been the type to chat.

Itachi nodded, absent mindedly. "Why aren't you dancing, little brother? I've seen a dozen girls glance this way, hoping to catch your eye, so I know it's not because you don't have a choice in partners."

"I don't want to dance," the younger one remarked to the older one, "it's not as fun, or as interesting, as people assume it to be."

"Ah, and that's where you're wrong," Itachi said, leaning back into his seat comfortably. "Dancing isn't supposed to be fun, or interesting, it's supposed to get you out there, talking and interacting with other people."

Sasuke looked at his brother with an amused smile. "Do you really believe that?"

Itachi shrugged.

Silence settled between them, and Sasuke watched as a boy, with brown hair and red triangles on his cheeks, threw back his head with a loud, booming laugh that made Sasuke cringe. Kiba Inuzuka worked in the canine unit, using dogs to track anything and everything, so naturally, he was a little loud. He seemed to be moderately smart and he was also okay with a gun, but only barely.

As he looked around, he recognized other students from the graduating class of the Konoha Academy for Future Spies.

There was Ino Yamanaka, who was dressed in a short, _short_ purple dress, with her long, platinum blonde hair, that could potentially be used to strangle someone, swaying around her, chatting with Sakura Haruno.

Haruno, his new squadmate, with her short pink hair and green skin tight dress, who was at the top of their class, with Sasuke right behind her, of course.

Shino Aburame was right behind her (who was more of a scientist than a spy, but was for some reason still in the spy program) and standing by Kiba as the boy talked to Hinata Hyuga, a shy girl with gray eyes that seemed empty and no confidence whatsoever, until Sasuke was sure her ear would fall off.

He recognized a few others in his class and classes of other academies, but the rest are family of the graduates.

The one who sticks out the most, however, is a boy with blonde, golden hair and scars on his cheeks that look like whiskers, which he's claimed since they were ten were from a knife fight he got into with one of his friends. Sasuke is under the impression that he simply fell on his face.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the sight of the boisterous boy, Naruto Uzumaki, his new partner, assigned to him by Director Tsunade. They had never really gotten along, though, Sasuke was never sure why. Naruto liked to pick fights with him a lot. But that was during their training in the Academy. Sasuke could remember coming back home to Itachi with bruises up and down his arms, once he got a busted lip too, and how Itachi's eye would twitch. Sasuke never told Itachi about Uzumaki. It was never important enough. Itachi would want to protect him and cause a scene, but Sasuke didn't mind the fights. Not entirely, anyways.

Sasuke wondered if things would change now. Now that they were on the same squad team.

As Sasuke unconsciously stared at Uzumaki, the blonde turned to him, as if sensing he was being stared at. Sasuke blinked when the boy smiled at him, then raising his glass with an excited look that seemed to scream ' _We did it! We graduated!_ '.

Hesitantly, Sasuke raised his own glass in response, which got the blonde to grin wider, only to turn away again, leaving Sasuke to continue blinking at his back.

"A friend of yours?" Itachi inquired, sitting forward again and staring at his brother intently. Then he shook his head. "No... that's not it, you're blinking in surprise too much."

Sasuke didn't answer to him, instead, he changed the subject. "Can we leave, Itachi? This is boring. I want to go and train some more before my first assignment in assigned."

Itachi studied Sasuke's face intently, looking for some kind of sign as to what he was thinking, or how he was feeling, but Sasuke kept his face relaxed and his eyes clear. He was thankful for his Emotions Study class at times like these.

Finally, the older brother sighed, to Sasuke's relief. "If we must. I did promise I'd show you a new technique, didn't I?"

Naruto was already upset at the fact they were up at such an ungodly hour. When he had learned he was rooming with the one person he had argued with most? That just added to his frustration.

The blonde boy grumbled a bit, shoving his clothes into their assigned drawers, as he had been doing the majority of his time in the dorm room.

Sharing the dorm room with Sasuke Uchiha was going to suck. Naruto knew it before he had even finished unpacking his things, when the bastard, whom he was sharing a room with (which, again, good fucking job, Granny Tsunade, honestly a great pairing there, not like they'd potentially _kill_ each other or anything), finished in half the time it had taken himself and was now reading a book on his bed, like a fucking ninja.

Bastard.

Sasuke pissed him off, but Naruto pointedly ignored him in favor of fantasizing about the KIA's training facilities.

As only students of the Academy, Naruto's class had only been to the KIA's facilities once before, for a training camp during one hot summer, but they had only gotten a brief glance at everything. And as that was _years_ ago, Naruto was sure they would have some even more exciting things.

Even Naruto had never, despite being the Director's godson, been on the campus other than that one camp. Granny was always visiting him at the academy, usually to yell at him about his classes, his performance in class, yada yada yada.

Sometimes, she could be quite boring.

Shizune, Granny's assistant, was going to show them around the KIA base after they were done packing. The blonde felt like bouncing off the walls. _This was going to be so fucking cool!_ He could imagine it now, growing up in this place, showing off his skills and potential like a fucking badge, getting the best missions anyone could ever ask for. He could practically _smell_ it and that made him smile wickedly. He could follow in the footsteps of the greatest people he knew of.

That thought was oddly calming, yet exciting.

 _Don't get too far ahead of yourself,_ he tried to chide himself, to no avail. _You still have to get through initiate training_ and _then you have to convince Granny to even_ let _you on the field so early_.

A knock sounded on the door, and Naruto looked up, along with Sasuke, who the blonde had half forgotten was there, to see Shizune standing at the door hesitantly, smiling at both of them. "Are you both ready? We should head out so I can show you around before the Initiate Assembly."

Naruto grinned at her, simultaneously kicking his _mostly_ unpacked bag under the bed, in an attempt to hide the evidence that he _wasn't_ done before Shizune could see. He could just do it later. "Yep! All set."

She looked at him skeptically, but Naruto felt his grin widen. Luckily, she dropped the topic, already familiar with Naruto's procrastination. "Sasuke?"

The raven looked up at her and nodded, saving his page and standing up, making his way to the door and past Shizune. Naruto huffed through his excitement. Typical. Sasuke always had to be first. Must be his ego.

Shizune lead them through the dorm, leading them past the entrance they had gone through when they had arrived to the opposite end. Naruto couldn't stop his hands from twitching in excitement as they reached the back door.

With a smile, the director's assistant opened the door, letting the sun from the outside stream through the opening, making Naruto's eyes burn, but he could've cared less in that moment.

Naruto had spent years dreaming of this, hadn't he? He'd spent years of dreaming he'd be good enough to step onto the KIA's grounds as an official agent. Years of training, despite not immediately having the talent for it. He had spent years of deliberately getting into trouble as a way to hone his skills (even if it did fail almost every time, he still _did_ it). And the moment was here.

At last.

Sasuke seemed as hesitant for this moment as he was, lingering behind Shizune and, for once, not making the first move. He stared at the door in equal wonder and awe, as if realizing what a big moment this was for them both.

Shizune stepped out of the door, beckoning them out with her. Naruto stepped forward first, following Shizune out and breathing in deeply, as if there was a change in air just because they were at the KIA. _The_ KIA.

Sasuke came out behind him, joining him in looking around.

The KIA grounds were _big_. Really big. To their left, Naruto saw modern buildings of varying sizes, standing tall and proud. To their right was a what Naruto could, safely, assume was a training ground. He smiled when he noticed that two people were sparring already so early in the morning, with what looked like…. _Were those nunchucks?!_

"Welcome to the KIA, boys."

Naruto closed his eyes and smiled. The air smelled no different, not that he thought it would. Yet, the atmosphere had changed. This atmosphere was familiar to Naruto, very comforting. It reminded him of two people who he had very little memory of.

"This way, I'll show you the more boring stuff first, then we'll get to the exciting things, yeah?"

Naruto nodded as Shizune led them towards one of the smaller of the buildings, still a bit dazed by it all. _He was here! He was here, standing on the same grounds….._

…. _So this was where his parents had trained._


	2. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE: O**

Sakura was having a good day. She had gotten up early and had had enough time to lazily prepare herself for the day. As a result, her training gear was in perfect place and her pink hair (dyed, of course, because who the hell is actually _born_ with pink hair?) was kept in a 'lazy bun', which had actually taken her a few times to get perfectly, with a few strands of hair sticking out.

So yeah. Sakura felt good about today. Today would be great, she'd start training with all of the other newbies and she'd pay attention every detail the instructor did and said so she could pull it off flawlessly. Aim to impress, right?

In the end, after arguing with herself about seeming too eager, she ended up leaving the dorm early too, with her roommate and best friend, Ino Yamanaka. The entire way there, Ino could not stop talking about her annoying crush on one of their former classmates, Sasuke Uchiha (who was now Sakura's squadmate as well). It made Sakura wonder if the girl _actually_ had a crush, or if she just wanted someone attractive to talk about.

Sakura had gone through the very same thing and realized that her 'crush' on the silent boy was just an easy way of fitting in. Well, it was more like an _infatuation_ with him. She was a _tad_ (read as _majorly_ ) obsessive. When she'd taken a step back to assess her feelings and behaviour of the past, she would cringe. It was bad. Fortunately, she had gotten over it and had discovered a part of herself that had been pushed aside. But that was another story for another time.

When Ino and Sakura arrived at the gym area where their training would begin, they discovered, to Ino's delight and Sakura's annoyance, that they were not alone in the gym.

Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, and Sasuke Uchiha were also in the gym. Sasuke was, unsurprisingly, stretching and preparing for training, while Shikamaru laid face down on one of the mats while Choji sat next to him, leaning back on his hands and looking highly amused.

Raising an eyebrow, Sakura kneeled down next to the mat when she had approached, tapping Shikamaru on the shoulder. "Are you okay there?"

The genius sighed, his back rising and falling with the movement. "I'm fine, it's just _such_ a drag to move."

"He walked in and tripped on the mat, but instead of saving himself, he just fell and hasn't moved since," Choji said with a snicker. "I'm surprised he can even breathe."

"Fuck off, Choji."

Choji snickered again and Sakura nodded to herself, standing back up. "Alrighty then," she said, and then turned to Ino, who was ogling Sasuke as he finished up his stretching, to no one's surprise. The pink haired spy rolled her eyes at that, trying to bring Ino's attention back to her.

"Ino, hey, hey!" Sakura waved her hand in front of the girl's face, frowning when she realized that Ino hadn't moved an inch. "Ino, pay attention, I'm _trying_ to talk to you. Hey, blondie!"

Sakura waved her hand a few more times, her frown deepening the longer she was at it.

"Just leave her to ogle," Choji said, leaning back a little more on his hands, and Shikamaru let out a heavy sigh beside him.

"If we do that, she'll be left to her thoughts, and I'm not sure we'll _like_ what she'll do then," Shikamaru put in thoughtfully. "She's too straightforward for her own good, it's so troublesome." He turned his head to the side, staring at Ino thoughtfully before calling out, "Hey Ino! Choji's trying to eat his hand again!"

Ino blinked, turning back to look at them and doing a double take when she saw Choji, who was in fact _not_ trying to eat his hand. "No, he's not!"

The genius smirked. "I know, I just needed your attention. Sakura's been trying to talk to you for awhile now."

The blonde girl blinked, giving Sakura an apologetic look. "Oh, sorry, I got distracted, he's just..." Ino made a sound of distress that resembled a dying whale, which would worry Sakura if she hadn't have heard it before. "Yeah, but anyways, what was it you wanted?"

Sakura smiled a little, before shaking her head. "It's nothing, just stop staring at Sasuke, you're probably making him uncomfortable."

"Gah, fine," Ino laughed.

They got wrapped into small talk as other newbies streamed into the gym, creating their own small talk, or stretching themselves out while they waited for the instructor to arrive. Sakura and Ino recognized every person who walked in, and they eventually became the very topic of their conversation.

"Oooh, look, Neji's hair grew even longer! I'm so jealous!" Ino pouted. "I wonder if he'd tell me which products he uses…"

"Has Kiba been weightlifting? I swear he wasn't that buff before." Sakura muttered.

"I think you're right," Ino agreed offhandedly. "Hey, do you think Hinata has a thing for Kiba, or is she really just that shy?"

"I think she's just shy." Sakura observed the way Hinata moved, like she was afraid to step over an imaginary line.

"Or both," Tenten added as she sat down beside them. "I'm sure I heard something about some specialised silent combat training."

Ino hummed, Sakura could see she had her thinking face on. "I think Hinata likes him. And I think it's possible that she hides her feelings well with a veil of shyness.."

Sakura whistled. "She must've gotten a lot of deception training, maybe Kurenai gave her extra lessons or something? Do you think Kiba likes her back?"

Ino snorted. "Probably not. He's too wrapped up in his dogs to notice anyone romantically."

Both Tenten and Sakura laughed, and their small talk continued until everyone had finally gathered, all waiting in expectation of their instructor's arrival.

Minutes passed by, and the initial buzz of conversation slowly died into a dull chatter as more and more conversations fell flat. Sakura frowned, her eyebrows furrowing together. It wasn't normal for a spy, especially an instructor, to be late. In the Academy, punctuality was always drilled into them from the second they stepped in, to the second they stepped out.

So, where was the instructor?

Twenty minutes went by, and Sakura was starting to get annoyed. So when the door flew open, she let out a breath of relief, with the thought that the instructor _finally_ decided to make an appearance, until the person stumbled in with a sheepish grin.

Naruto Uzumaki panted as he joined the rest of them, and Sakura felt her eye twitch. The pink haired girl had kind of forgotten about him. It was more peaceful without hearing about his antics and over all annoying-ness.

"Sorry, I'm late, I- uh, I overslept, heh. Stayed up too late, I guess." Naruto looked around. "Where's the instructor?"

"He hasn't arrived yet," Kiba told the annoying blonde. "He's later than you."

Naruto's cheeks went red. "Oh."

At this point, Sakura huffed, continuing in dull chatter about weapons with TenTen, who seemed to be enthralled with the topic, paying no more attention to the idiotic blonde. Overslept, her ass, he probably was off doing some stupid shit, again.

She wasn't sure why, but Naruto rubbed her the wrong way. He irritated her with all the pranks he pulled in the academy, including multiple ones he pulled on her. Either way, he wasn't her favorite person in the world.

But their late instructor was beginning to become her least favorite. Seriously, how late could someone _be_?

Thirty minutes.

It was thirty minutes later that their instructor arrived. Thirty minutes from the time Naruto had come in, which was already twenty minutes past the time training was _supposed_ to have started.

The instructor was a man with silver hair (though not from age, no, he was far too young for that), dressed in lots of black; the standard spy outfit, of course. There was something… odd about his appearance. At first, Sakura wasn't able to comprehend what exactly was wrong with his appearance, but then it hit her.

"Sorry I'm late," he said, voice slightly muffled and slinging the bag off of his shoulder and dropping it to the floor.

The silver haired man was wearing a _mask_.

"I crossed a black cat on my way here and had to change course so I wouldn't attain any bad luck. Surely, I hope, you all can understand."

And he was apparently crazy, Sakura mused to herself, annoyed. "Are we all here? Good." The instructor looked bored, or, at least his posture suggested that. His eyes looked over them lazily, stopping somewhere in their group, but before Sakura could figure it out, his eyes were moving again. He took in a lazy breath. "Good morning, initiates, my name is Kakashi Hatake and I will be your instructor for combat during your week of initiate training. Any questions so far?"

Kakashi was met with silence. He nodded. "Alright. Well, today, we'll be having a little competition of sorts, just so I can evaluate what level of skill each of you are at, individually and as a group. We'll start out with six groups of two, and the winners of those spars will be paired in two's again, and so on. Everything clear to you all?"

"Yes sir!"

"Find your partners then."

Everybody grouped together in less than a second. Ino grabbed onto Sakura's and she gripped it back, holding on tightly. As Sakura looked around, she noticed that other friends had grabbed onto each other as well, TenTen wanted to try her hand against Hinata, Choji picked to partner with Shikamaru, etc. At first, it seemed the two (obvious) bests, Sasuke and Neji, were going to be paired together, but Rock Lee loudly announced how he was going to defeat the long haired Hyuuga, so Shino was instead paired as Sasuke's partner.

The pinkette's eyes eventually landed on blonde hair and she smirked. The blonde was going up against Kiba. He had never been able to defeat any of them in the Academy, so she knew he was going to be out in the first round. Knowing this, Sakura let out a deep breath. While this was only an evaluation, she knew she'd probably get _somewhere_ if she beat Ino.

"Alright now, one group needs to come up to this mat here," Kakashi gestured to the said mat with his foot, "The rest of you can sit down and watch, or just stand around in the meantime. Who's going first?"

"We'll go first," Choji offered, pulling Shikamaru to his feet as the said boy let out a groan, getting up slowly and following behind Choji to the mat. Kakashi nodded, stepping back from the mat to give them room to spar.

The two prepared themselves on opposite side of the mat, and Kakashi held up his hand. "Alright. Are both of you ready?"

Both boys nodded, Choji getting into the typical fighting stance and Shikamaru lazily pulling off his own. Sakura couldn't help but grin at that. Shikamaru was so lazy at points, but she and the rest of their class had no doubt that he was an exceptional fighter. He wasn't dubbed as a genius for nothing.

"Alright, then. Get ready.." Kakashi brought down his hand in an exaggerated motion. "Go!"

The fight was quick and swift. Choji attacked first, of course, swinging at Shikamaru with almost pinpoint accuracy, yet slow timing. Shikamaru dodged it with ease, stepping back and Sakura watched as he looked over Choji's defense, blocking all of his blows and not once returning his own. She wondered what he was thinking, what he was looking for. Was it a weak point? Was it a pattern?

Just as Shikamaru was reaching his end of the mat, he finally attacked back.

He aimed a kick at Choji's side, successfully landing it despite Choji's attempt to move. He faked a punch at Choji's face, which Choji fell for, and landed another one of the boy's stomach. Blow by blow, Shikamaru drove Choji back, before finally he grabbed his arm, yanked on it, and tripped him with his leg. Choji landed on the ground with a _thump_ and Kakashi signaled the end of the match.

"That was good, Nara. You too, Akimichi." Kakashi's voice was a bit more muffled than before. "Both of you can take a seat. Nara, you won't be needed until the next round, so just relax for a bit."

The two boys nodded, taking their places with the rest of the group, and TenTen bounded up to the mat excitedly, Hinata in tow.

TenTen and Hinata's fight ended quickly, TenTen slamming Hinata's body on the ground in no time and pinning her there until Kakashi gave the thumbs up, signaling the spar was over. Sakura had spent the entire fight talking with Ino, playfully arguing over who was going to win their own fight, boasting about how they were going to win.

It was fun to talk to Ino when she wasn't obsessing over a boy. Ino was funny and charming, coming up with witty replies on the spot. She really did wonder who would win between them.

"Alright, next team."

Sakura was only half paying attention after she realized that Naruto had gotten up, followed by Kiba, who was wearing a confident smirk. He seemed to know he would win.

"Ooh, Naruto's going up," Ino giggled, watching the two intently as they got into their proper stances, Naruto seeming focused and Kiba just _oozing_ with confidence. "I wonder how _this_ will play out."

Sakura didn't care. She knew who was going to win, because Naruto had never paid attention a day in his life during the Academy. He wasn't very good, though Sakura was surprised he graduated, so he must've done _something_ right. Either way, this match was of no interest to her, but Ino was fascinated. Displeased, Sakura sighed. She decided maybe paying attention was better than trying to convince Ino it was of no importance.

Kakashi gave the go ahead to start the spar, standing back with a bored look in his eye as neither boy moved at first, waiting for the other to make the first move. Sakura could feel the small, nagging feeling of anticipation that rose in the group, but she herself just frowned. What was Kiba doing? Wait, forget that, what was _Naruto_ doing? Usually, the blonde attacked first, with all of the strength he could muster for one blow, but the blonde stood back, watching, observing. Kiba's initial confusion of Naruto's movements (or lack of them) started to mix with frustration.

"You know, you're supposed to be _fighting_ , right?" Ino commented, and Kiba snapped out of it, throwing the first punch of the match right at Naruto's head.

The blonde dodged with surprising ease, as well as the roundhouse kick delivered to his side, watching Kiba's movements like… a predator watching its prey.

Kick-dodge-punch-block.

A shiver went down Sakura's spine. What happened to the blonde idiot she had seen not ten minutes ago? The one who loudly boasted about his so called 'skills', but hadn't won a single fight? The one who was always goofing around, even during fights, annoying the hell out of everyone around him and never taking anything seriously?

Where was that Naruto?

Punch-kick-dodge-block-kick-block.

Ino grabbed onto her arm, squeezing it in anticipation or nerves, Sakura wasn't sure. All she knew was that she squeezed Ino's arm back.

Sakura watched with widening eyes as Kiba attacked in a series of combinations, all of which Naruto either ducked or blocked calmly, still watching over Kiba's movements like a hawk. He wasn't even attacking Kiba, he just let the brunette attack him with all he had. It was slowly having an effect on the other, and Sakura couldn't help feeling like she'd seen this before. She'd seen this method somewhere...

Only it couldn't have been a method, could it? Naruto was not one to have a method, at least not when he was in the Academy. But then again, Naruto was not one to sit back and take the blows, so anything could be possible.

The fight continued, and as it did, Kiba grew frustrated, and his attacks slowly decreased in power and precision, his speed and accuracy seemed to be lagging behind. Sakura's hands formed into fists, tightening every time she spotted a mistake in his form, and Naruto seemed to notice them to, because for the first time in the fight, he dropped the calm face and a smirk replaced it.

Kiba threw a punch, and Sakura could have sworn time had slowed down.

Naruto sidestepped Kiba's clumsy punch, before grabbing the boy's arm and yanking on it, letting Kiba's face meet his fist before dropping him to the ground, still grabbing onto Kiba's arm behind him and placing his foot on Kiba's back to keep him pinned.

Sakura gaped. She _gaped_.

Despite how it had seemed up until that point, Sakura had thought… just maybe… Kiba would gain the upper hand again. The fact that he hadn't had the upper hand the entire fight stunned her.

Naruto grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head as Kakashi called the spar to an end, backing away a little bit and dropped the arm so that Kiba could get up, but the poor guy seemed too stunned to move. Sakura knew the feeling, hell, all of their _class_ probably knew the feeling. Naruto had just…

Naruto had just _won a match_.

The pinkette looked around to make sure everyone else was seeing what she was seeing. Everyone else seemed just as surprised as she did.

Naruto joined the group, a dazed and defeated looking Kiba behind him, and was immediately greeted with praises and questions of 'how did he do it?'. Everyone was excited and talking animatedly to him, probably for the first time ever.

"Oh my god," Ino said, a laugh of surprise escaping her. All Sakura could do was nod in agreement. "I- just- oh my god."

"Oh my god." Sakura echoed her friend.

Ino slowly unclasped her grip, and Sakura didn't even realize Ino's nails had left a mark until she pulled away and her skin stung.

In the crowd of their classmates, Naruto grinned sheepishly and Sakura found herself staring at his expression for longer than necessary, a thoughtful expression on her face and the feeling like she had judged him all too wrong. Like she had jumped too quickly to a conclusion. Is that what happens when you're proven wrong? Do you contemplate your every decision up to that point?

"Come on," Sakura's blonde friend said, gaining her attention. Ino dusted herself off, and smiled at Sakura, a mischievous glint in her eye. "It's our turn, and I don't plan on losing."

"I can't believe you two ended in a draw by knocking each other out cold," TenTen remarked, sitting next to the pink haired girl as another fight raged in front of them, and Sakura grinned sheepishly, Ino leaning her head on her shoulder, entirely worn out.

Both of them had come out with several cuts and bruises (Ino has really sharp nails), and had ended up knocking each other out in the end, consequently missing out on several other fights, including Sasuke vs Shino, Neji vs Rock Lee (which Sakura had been hoping to see), and TenTen vs Shikamaru.

"That's not how I pictured it going at _all_. Maybe Sakura winning by default because Ino tripped or something, but never a _tie_."

Ino huffed, offended by TenTen's assumption she would have lost the match, hitting her face against Sakura's shoulder.

Sakura gave her a little laugh. "Yeah, me neither."

TenTen adjusted one of her buns, a bored habit, Sakura supposed, leaning forward with a sigh as Naruto and Neji took to the mat, preparing to spar against each other.

The pink haired girl tilted her head, staring thoughtfully at Naruto for a minute. He was good against Kiba, definitely better than she had ever thought he would've been. She wondered if he had anything else in store for them. Sakura had the distinct feeling he did.

Neji and Naruto prepared to start their spar on the mat, and Sakura bit her lip as Ino shifted her head around on her shoulder, humming quietly in fascination.

"He's gotten good," Ino remarked, and Sakura almost thought she had been talking to herself. But the blonde looked at her directly, head tilted in an odd angle on her shoulder. "No, scratch that, he's gotten _really_ good. It's a little intimidating, don't you think?"

Sakura couldn't help but agree. _But the real question is,_ Sakura thought to herself as TenTen and Ino started up a conversation about each move he had used and which part of Naruto's previous fights was the best, Sakura having no intention of joining in.

 _How did you catch up so quickly, Naruto?_


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:** _ **Naruto Uzumaki**_

Naruto breathed in and breathed out, calming his emotions just as his teacher had taught him to over the few weeks before now. Neji was good. Like, _really_ good. Not that Naruto had doubted it before, of course, but fighting against him, it became unbelievably obvious.

It was obvious in the graceful way Neji held himself despite every attack Naruto dealt out, the fluid way in which he moved, blocking and dodging and attacking as if they were one, continuous movement. If he hadn't been the one fighting, Naruto would have watched Neji's every move in wonder, trying to memorize each movement, to _learn_ from him.

But the most he would be able to do was read his movements to fight back, unable to memorize in the middle of the intensity of the fight. Neji's style was a family recipe for self-preservation, built on attacking vital points in your body that can cause it to malfunction on itself if pressed at the right time or in the right place. The attacks were fast and hard to follow, as Naruto had examined from the way Neji had sparred against Rock Lee. From what Granny had told him, Neji was shaping up to be one of the finest fighters in the family line. Beating him was going to be tough, but Naruto had a plan. Well, more like a-not-so-well-thought-out idea, but it was a start.

The fight had begun rather quickly compared to the last one. Naruto knew holding back and letting Neji attack first would be stupid, instead he made the first move; a punch to the face and an attempt to sweep Neji's legs out from under him, both of which were blocked and dodged. A few more attacks later - all of them, again, blocked or dodged, not a single one landing - Naruto was trying to tamp down on his rising frustration.

Naruto was giving it his best. Frustration didn't begin to cover it. They were all really good attacks, too, if he may say so himself, but Neji matched them without problem.

Finally, Naruto's pale eyed opponent struck back, with minimal hits interspersed between each of Naruto's. He targeted vital points (thankfully, all of which he avoided hitting), but they still landed on him. After a particularly forceful hit on Neji's part that pushed them to either side of the mat, Naruto decided it was high time he showed everyone that what happened with Kiba _was not_ all he had up his sleeves. He didn't go through five months of hard, nonstop training with Granny Tsunade and Old Man Jiraiya for nothing, after all.

During the split moments between Neji's attack and his, Neji watched him from the other side of the mat with his peculiar colored eyes, amusement and… interest sparking in their depths. Even he was interested in Naruto's development, it seemed. The thought made the blonde smirk.

 _Alright, you've got this_. _Just do it like in practice with Old Man Jiraiya and Granny._

With a deep breath, Naruto began to move, launching at Neji like a bullet, leg reaching out to hook around one of Neji's-

Naruto saw the end of the match reflected in the surprised precognition flashing in Neji's eyes but he was already halfway through the kick, with no way to turn back. The next moment, the fight was over and he was flat on his back, Neji's arm pressing down on his neck and his pale eyes staring at him. Calculating.

It happened so fast, Naruto was still having trouble processing it, just like Kiba in their fight before, only Kiba hadn't seen it coming.

Naruto had seen it coming. He had seen the realization flood through Neji's eyes. And he'd been powerless to change his move.

God damn it. God damn it _all_.

He blinked, coughing a little bit in surprise, and the pale eyed boy tsked, removing himself from pinning down Naruto and getting onto his feet, brushing off imaginary dust from himself.

Naruto breathed in and out a little dramatically to regain his breath, rolling over to get up and laughing a little as Kakashi signaled the end of the match.

With a friendly smile, he held out his hand to Neji for him to shake. It wasn't required at the end of a spar, but Tsunade had drilled it into his head during their training, and Naruto wasn't about to let her down. He had tried to do the same with Kiba, but the brunette had glared at him as if Naruto had been trying to rub it in, so he had quickly retracted it.

The pale eyed boy seemed to have been taught the same thing, as he eyed it a little, as if skeptic, but politely took his hand and shook it once.

"You're just as good as I thought," Naruto told him, giving him a friendly smile. "But next time, I'll work my hardest to beat you."

"Likewise," Neji dropped his hand, looking a little conflicted before saying, "You were a formidable opponent. I look forward to the next time."

He had already walked away by the time Naruto had fully processed the words, and Naruto couldn't help the grin that followed it.

He made his way back to where the rest of the group was sitting and leaning against the far wall, allowing the next two, Sasuke - his bastard of a roommate - and Shikamaru, onto the mat.

"Hey, Naruto!"

With an eyebrow raised, Naruto looked around to see who could possibly be calling his name (practically everyone in the room disliked him in some way, so there weren't a lot of options, if any) and was surprised to see a blonde girl, Ino Yamanaka, he believed her name was, making her way over, a familiar pink haired girl following behind her.

He grinned in greeting and waved excitedly.

"You really surprised everyone with your fight against Neji," Ino stated, joining him against the wall, Sakura moving to stand on the other side of Ino, watching the mat with false intensity. He could tell she was paying attention to them by the way her eyes would flicker, as if watching them out of the corner of her eye. "Hell, you surprised everyone with your fight against _Kiba_. _Man_ , I don't think any of us thought you were going to win _that_ fight when you first got paired up."

Sakura nudged the blonde, still avoiding looking over. " _Ino_."

"What? It's true."

Naruto could practically feel his pride deflate as if it had been hit by an axe. "Thanks."

Ino made a humming sound. "Anyways, I just wanted to say that you've gotten pretty good now. Like, _really_ good, actually. _And_ you no longer seem to be as insufferable to be around as you used to be, so I'd say you're pretty likeable. Right, Sakura?"

"Sure."

"So I decided that you're fit enough to hang out with now," The blonde girl gave him a friendly smile, as if unaware of how terribly blunt she was being. He returned the smile, anyways. "If you want, of course. I just figured since you're not on a lot of people's good sides, maybe you'd want some company."

Naruto glanced at Sakura behind Ino, but the other girl didn't look back at him or react in surprise, so Ino had obviously talked to her about this before. "Is Haruno okay with this?" he asked anyway.

"She'll get over it," Ino assured him. "She's still just angry about being on the receiving end of some of your pranks, which were _hilarious_ by the way. So...? What do you say?"

Naruto shrugged, trying not to seem _too_ excited and play it off cool, but well… he was excited. _No one_ had wanted to be friends with a capital-L loser like Naruto, the kid who couldn't fight to save his life. The kid who had trouble learning different languages and stuck out like a sore thumb during any 'blending in' exercise. And now Ino and Sakura had come up, wanting to be his friend, even if Ino had dragged the other girl over. He had to suppress the giddy feeling in his chest.

"Sure, why not."

"Sweet," Ino replied, bumping shoulders with him and watching as Sasuke landed a kick on Shikamaru's gut (but the genius didn't seem phased, of course), before she turned back around quickly, pointing an accusing finger at him. "Right, I wanted to ask you something. How did you get so good? You were terrible before."

"It's a secret," Naruto told her, and the blonde girl frowned. "You have to be worthy to hear it."

Ino pouted. "Cut the crap, you have to tell me! Is there some super power stuff going on here or something? A new power drink that boosts your fighting skills?"

"It wounds me that you believe I couldn't have gained these skills on my own."

He received an eyeroll. "Come _on_ , we both know you were _pretty_ bad. What's your secret?"

Naruto pursed his lips, pretending to think it over as Ino leaned forward in anticipation. Naruto smiled at her childish behaviour, deciding that yes, he liked her already. Pushing off from the wall, as the fight on the mat came to the end, the blonde boy grinined. "Well if you _must_ know..."

Ino's eyes practically lit up with her excitement and Naruto had to pinch his leg discreetly to keep from laughing and ruining this.

"My secret is..." Naruto said in a low voice dramatically, making sure only Ino and Sakura could hear. "Training. _Lots_ of it...with the Director of the KIA."

Ino blinked for a second, as if wondering _how_ Naruto had obtained such training, when it seemed to dawn on her and she whined. She hit his shoulder as Naruto laughed loudly, telling him that it _wasn't fair your godmother is the goddamn director_ and that he should kindly _stick that fact up his ass before I put it up there for you_.

TenTen shushed them at one point, but Naruto just grinned.

It felt good to have a friend.

When Naruto returned to the dorm after Initiate Training to get ready for lunch, he finally came face to face with his roommate for the second time since they had moved into the dorms a week ago.

It was strange. Sasuke was never in the room if Naruto was there, unless they were going to sleep, and even then he came in late and left early for some individual, specialised training or something. While Naruto didn't necessarily mind (hell, every minute without Sasuke calling him an idiot and generally just being a dick was a _blessing_ ), it was still strange.

Naruto blinked at the sight of him, but Sasuke barely spared him a glance, continuing to do whatever he was doing - packing weapons, maybe?

"Didn't you have enough training during our review, or did it not live up to your exceedingly high expectations?"

Believe it or not, Naruto hadn't _wanted_ to snap at his roommate. But Sasuke angered him, knew how to press his buttons by just _being_ there, and Naruto wasn't as professional as he should be, regarding his emotions.

"Are you trying to pick a fight with me?"

The blonde boy bit his lip, ignoring Sasuke and making his way over to the other side of the room to change out of his sweaty outfit when he tripped, and fell face first into the bed, bouncing off with a clink of springs and nearly hitting the floor before his left arm and leg steadied him.

Naruto's neck flushed red, and his roommate snorted in an unamused way, grabbing his gun from where Naruto had tripped on it, as if Naruto had _chosen_ to trip on it. Naruto was just incredibly grateful it hadn't gone off. "Spy, my _ass_ , spies don't trip on their own _two feet_."

Naruto's anger flared and he jumped to stand up straight, jaw clenching ever so slowly. "Get that stick out of your ass, you bastard. Stop acting all high and mighty all the damn time-"

"What about you? Prancing around the place with everyone so _astonished_ just because you've improved from the absolute worst. Good for you! It's about time you caught up to the rest of us. Now _you_ should step off of _your_ high horse, or should I remind you that I won overall today? Even against Neji, who you lost against?"

The blonde only seethed quietly, and Sasuke huffed.

"That's what I thought. Now _excuse_ me, but I'm going to get some more practice in during lunch before Languages next review period."

Sasuke was out of the room and door slammed shut behind him, leaving Naruto alone with his anger and embarrassment.

"Gah, he's just such a jerk, yanno?" Naruto remarked to Ino and Sakura later at lunch in the dinner hall, stabbing at his food with vicious intent. Ino giggled a little, picking at her own food, while Sakura just rolled her eyes in amusement. Naruto had been ranting about this (among other things) for the past ten minutes. "And who does he think he is? It's irritating."

"Maybe you should try _not_ insulting him every time you're in a two foot radius of him," Ino suggested helpfully, bumping his arm with hers. Naruto found that Ino was a very touchy person, which didn't bother him at all, it was just… strange. Strange to be like this with someone else, all close and personal with each other. "That might solve all your problems, and maybe you'll even get to be his friend."

"Why would I want to be his friend?"

Ino rolled her eyes as if Naruto was an idiot (which he's not, by the way). "If you become friends with him, then maybe your whole being-on-the-same-squad thing would be easier to deal with. And maybe _I_ 'd get to talk to him. And then he'd fall in love with me because I'm kick ass and everything he's looking for-"

"Okay, one, you and Sakura tied in the first round today, so that 'kick ass' image has already failed you," Naruto laughed, and Ino pouted, punching his arm lightly. "Two, why can't you get Sakura to help you try and jumpstart your fantasies for you? I mean, not that your fantasy would come true, but.."

"Hey! Meanie, they would _too_ come true. And I've already asked Sakura, she said no before I could even finish my sentence," Ino grumbled. "I'm starting to regret inviting you to our group."

"Awe, Ino, admit it, you love having me here. I'm much better than Ms. Grumpy Pants over there."

"Why did you have to bring me into this?"

Both Ino and Naruto laughed, and their chatter continued, drifting further and further away from the topic of Sasuke and the possibility of becoming his friend. However, it never left Naruto's mind, nagging at him again and again. It was stupid. He wasn't going to think about it anymore.

 _No more!_

It wasn't working.

After lunch, the three had made their way over to the Languages room, where they reviewed over all ten of the languages they had studied (half of them were mandatory, the rest were learned in spurts, just in case they would need to understand the basics), following their instructor, Kurenai Yūhi, as she switched from language to language with impressive fluency. After that followed Cultures Of the World (or COW as Naruto liked to call it) with Asuma Sarutobi, and Covert Operations with Anko Mitarashi, who was a hard ass, if you wanted to know. By the time they had finished with all of their reviewing for the day, it was six in the evening, just in time for dinner.

They had one more day of reviewing until their final assessments. According to Ino (who had heard it from TenTen, who had gotten the information from Hinata, who had a cousin who was in charge of something- Naruto didn't listen to the details), their PC (Physical Combat) assessment lasted almost the entire week, and the last day was for the rest of their assessments.

Somehow, Naruto didn't really believe her, it was from the gossip mill after all. However, it _did_ have him wondering about the possible content in store for them all. What were they going to do for their PC assessment? Go against each other again? Something harder?

Naruto didn't have the slightest idea, but he couldn't wait to find out.

The next day, everyone met in the training arena, eagerly awaiting their late instructor once again. Naruto found himself with Ino and Sakura against the wall again, where he and Ino were discussing different training techniques that would be helpful for stealth and the like, while Sakura would pop in her thoughts every so often, always playing with the necklace around her neck absentmindedly. It looked like a light pink star and Sakura handled it gently in her subconsciousness, giving Naruto the idea that it held a lot of importance to her. The pained look in her eyes told him it was a gift… from someone close to her. Someone who was gone.

"You should stop letting yourself be read," Naruto said, cutting off Ino's rambling about a totally impossible training exercise. Sakura snapped her eyes up to meet his and she frowned. "Other's might not notice, but anyone as highly trained as us could spot it in under a second."

"Stop reading me then."

Naruto shrugged. "It's hard when you're so obvious about your feelings. Who gave you that?"

Sakura gave a glance to his left, meeting eyes with Ino, who only bit her lip and glanced away. Then she dropped her shoulders in a sigh. "That's… that's another story for another day. Anyways, where's Hatake? Shouldn't he be here by now? I want to know what we're doing today so I can get this week over with faster."

Despite his curiosity, Naruto indulged Sakura in her topic change. He would let her keep her secret.

"I'm not sure," he said thoughtfully, and Ino tugged on Sakura's sleeve, grasping for her attention like a child. "But I'm just as curious as you are."

Sakura nodded, and that was the end of their conversation. Ino pulled Sakura into a mindless conversation about one of her ridiculous ideas, and Naruto used this time to look around the arena and take a look around, listening to Ino's rambling and Sakura's half-assed replies.

His eyes brushed over each individual in the room until they landed on one individual in question, one who, again, hadn't shown up to their dorm room until after Naruto had fallen asleep and had left before Naruto had awoken. Naruto briefly wondered if Sasuke was overworking himself, being gone so late in the evening, and so early every morning. Not that he cared, but… It had to be messing with him, even just a little bit.

From the way the raven tensed, Naruto knew he had noticed his stare, but he didn't look over at him. Instead, he continued to stare emotionless into space. A brick wall. After a moment, Naruto looked away and the doors finally opened, revealing a, once again, bored looking Kakashi, who waved at them all without a care in the world.

"Sorry I'm late," he started through his mask. "I got lost on the path of life and all. Surely, you can understand."

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle, much to Sakura's annoyance. This was supposed to be their squad leader, too.

This was sure to be fun.

"That's like saying 'sorry I'm late, I didn't want to come'," Sakura muttered under her breath angrily. "Why not just flat out say it? It would save him the trouble."

Ino laughed and bumped shoulders with Sakura, who bumped her back and pushed her into Naruto's shoulder. "We're spies, Sakura! When is anything ever simple for us?"

Naruto bumped into Ino's shoulder again, and soon enough they were bumping the blonde girl back and forth, like she was a ball in a small game of ping pong. Ino giggled as Kakashi started to make his way through the arena, stopping in the front and gathering everyone's attention to him as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Today, we'll be doing some exercises and general combat practice to work on your stamina. You'll be working with partners as I assign them, so that means you should just step away from your friends now, because you most likely will not be paired up with them. Once you're paired up, I'll explain what you'll do. Questions?"

Silence.

"Good. Now, we have.. twelve of you, Shikamaru will be with Rock Lee, and Chouji and Shino will be partnered together. Kiba with Sakura-"

Sakura cursed under her breath and Ino giggled at her dismay, bumping into her shoulder, which she seems to do a lot, and Sakura scowled even more, bumping into Ino's with more force and making Ino laugh more. Naruto zoned out after that, focusing on the bottom of his t-shirt and playing with it in between his fingers, only listening for the sound of his name to be called out.

"Ino and Hinata, and… let's go with TenTen and Neji, and Sasuke and Naruto."

Naruto blinked. Then he blinked again.

 _What?_

"Any questions? Good."

Naruto looked back to where Sasuke was standing, but he was still just staring off, looking detached from the world. Naruto wondered if he even cared they were partnered together. If he had been as irked about their argument yesterday as Naruto had been. He would have thought so, but...

Actually, when was Sasuke ever affected by their arguments?

"Get together with your partner and grab one of the mats over at the far wall. Once you're both standing on opposite sides of the mat, I'll explain our first exercise."

Had Naruto been wrong all this time?

Suddenly, everyone was moving, as if in unison, pairing together with their chosen partners and grabbing a mat from the far wall, but Naruto just stood there, a small frown on his face.

"Hey, are we going to get this over with, or what? I don't want us being the ones to hold everyone up."

Sasuke's face was as hidden of any underlying emotion, just as it had been before, just an eyebrow quirked up in question as if Naruto was just another partner, in just another exercise. As if they- or Naruto, he guess- hadn't been arguing the day before.

Suddenly Naruto had the dawning thought that maybe, _just_ maybe, this rivalry thing he had been so caught up in, that he had been so _sure_ of, was one sided.

And, for some reason, that realization made him feel very small.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3** _ **: Sasuke Uchiha**_

The outdoor training area was filled with the sounds of fighting, as techniques and methods were distributed between the two young men fighting on one of the mats in the center. Occasionally there was a shout of encouragement or correction, as two boys fought against each other with extreme intensity, using quick, fluid movements, not only in their form and how they distributed each hit, but in their stances and gazes.

Sasuke growled in frustration as his brother called out yet another correction, feeling it build up bit by bit until his concentration slipped in the slightest bit, allowing Itachi to grab his arm, twisting Sasuke's body in the air and dropping Sasuke and himself to the ground, pinning him there.

The younger boy scowled at his brother, who only shrugged in response, removing his arm and kneeling next to Sasuke, who didn't plan on moving.

Sasuke had been off ever since he had left his dorm room for their extra practice during the lunch period, frustrated with his damn roommate and whatever problem he had with Sasuke. The frustration bled into their training like spilled ink spreading on paper, rendering Sasuke from the calm and collected concentration he usual obtained. Sasuke knew Itachi had noticed it too, you'd have to be an idiot not to.

"What's wrong with you today, Sasuke?" Itachi questioned him, nudging his shoulder with his hand when Sasuke didn't move. "You've been off this morning."

Sasuke sighed deeply, as if trying to draw emotion from the endless well of his emotions, but came up with nothing.

Itachi watched him, that brotherly gaze he so often had showing evidently. Finally, he changed positions to sit cross legged beside Sasuke, propping his head up with his elbow on his knee. "Spill it, little brother. I find having an extra mind pick at your worries has satisfying results."

Sasuke gave him a weird look. "That's a bit weird coming from you, considering you never tell anyone anything."

"I never said it helped _me_ specifically."

Sasuke laughed at that, staring at the sky thoughtfully. He was beginning to understand why Shikamaru found it preferable to anything else. It was… relaxing to sit there, watching the clouds slowly make their way across the sky, his brother sitting beside him, even if he was staring holes into the side of his head.

After another long moment, Itachi cleared his throat, gaining his attention again, and Sasuke sighed.

"It's my dormmate." Sasuke began.

"I figured so." His brother hummed in thought. "It's that Naruto kid you always talked about, right? The one who wouldn't stop picking fights with you?"

"Right." Sasuke made a motion with his hands, as of to convey his frustration, something that only happened when he was, in fact, frustrated. "He just-" Sasuke made a sound of distress, "I don't understand why he always _does_ this, Ita. I haven't _done_ anything to him, at least nothing he hasn't started. I can't even be in the same room, minding my own business, without a snide remark, you know? And I don't even understand why this frustrates me so much, I should be _used_ to this, right?"

Itachi didn't answer, his face unmoving, but his eyes- Sasuke could tell he was thinking. Could see the gears turning in his brother's genius mind, so Sasuke continued.

"And he's just _basking_ in the attention he's getting for his improvement from dead last. Ita, it was like he was... I don't know, _bragging_ about being as skilled as he should have been in the first place. It just bugs me so much."

Itachi hummed to show he was listening along. "Sounds like he's a handful."

Sasuke snorted, nodding his head in agreement. "Yeah."

"Have you ever thought maybe Naruto just wishes for your attention?"

Sasuke frowned at him. "What? Why would he want _that_? He hates me."

Itachi studied Sasuke, as if he was one of his difficult mind exercises Itachi used to keep his mind focused while he was off from a mission (' _They aren't_ stupid _, Sasuke, they_ help. _Maybe_ you _should try it sometime'_ ).

Sasuke's brother is only five years older than him. He's one of the KIA's top spies, having already gone on seven classified, exceedingly difficult missions, while other spies usually only go on five in their entire career. He was a genius, no doubt about it. He had an… interesting amount of knowledge on psychology, beyond a spy's basic study of the human mind.

Sasuke's brother is only five years older than him, but sometimes Itachi seems wiser than even the legends of the KIA.

"I don't know about hating you per se, but sometimes, Sasuke, people do things because they want to be recognized, whether by everyone or a specific person. They lash out and do crazy things, or they force themselves to progress. I think, based on how you describe him and his behaviour, maybe Naruto just wants to be recognized by you the most."

Sasuke's mind went blank, and remained that way as Itachi got up, brushing himself off and reaching for Sasuke's hand to help him to his feet. "I should go, I've got to go on a mission soon."

Sasuke took Itachi's hand, on his feet in seconds. As soon as he was, he was enveloped in a familiar hug and the atmosphere changed from relaxed to tense as the thought of Itachi having to leave again settled in Sasuke's mind. Despite himself, Sasuke buried his face into Itachi's chest, wrapping his arms around his brother and squeezing softly.

This was a big mission, as they often were for Itachi. Sasuke didn't know the details, protocol and all, but he did know the countless hours Itachi had spent the past week preparing and gathering information.

"Be safe," Sasuke said, his voice muffled, but just loud enough for Itachi to hear. "I don't care if you're a genius or some shit, just don't end up like Mom and-"

He stopped his sentence there, unable to continue and holding Itachi tighter. Itachi picked up on it anyways.

"Of course."

A second longer, and Sasuke pulled back from the hug, letting Itachi step off to the side and grab his discarded jacket, giving him a nod.

"I'll see you soon, Sasuke."

And then he was gone.

This had been their unspoken tradition. A hug, a quick nod, and an 'I'll see you soon'. Never, _ever_ goodbye.

Because if Sasuke had to say goodbye to the last bit of family he had left, he wouldn't know what to do with himself.

Itachi's words still echoed in his mind throughout the rest of the day, and Sasuke found himself glancing at Naruto often because of it. During Languages review, where he was laughing with his new friends, two girls named Ino and Sakura. From the crooked angle in Cultures Of the World where he could barely even catch sight of him past the heads of Kiba, Chouji, and Shikamaru.

They were only fleeting glances, but every single time, without fail, Sasuke heard his brother's words echo in the depths of his mind.

' _Sometimes, Sasuke, people do things because they want to be recognized… I think maybe Naruto just wants to be recognized by you the most.'_

Sasuke trained well into the night to avoid going back to their dorm room until the last possible second, when he knew Naruto would be asleep. He didn't feel like dealing with Naruto trying to pick a fight again, especially not with the words that were echoing in his head, over and over, like a broken record that just _would not shut up_.

Sasuke showered in the communal bathrooms of their dorm to rid himself of all the sweat and relax his muscles some, and when he got back, he did that thing again.

He _glanced_.

' _...I think maybe Naruto just wants to be recognized by you the most.'_

Surely that wasn't the case. He was an idiot for letting it phase him as much as it did. It was absolutely atrocious.

However much of a genius Itachi was, Sasuke thought to himself, settling down in his bed, listening to Naruto's soft, not-quite snores, some people just couldn't be read. Sasuke hoped Naruto was one of them.

When Sasuke woke up with the sun, way before anyone was supposed to up, he got out of the room as soon as he could to get dressed and get _out_ of there before Naruto could even so much as flutter his eyelids.

For the past three mornings, when he had been avoiding Naruto like the plague, Sasuke would train. Sometimes with weapons, sometimes not. One morning, the morning that those words were set into Sasuke's head, Itachi had even joined him- but Itachi was on a mission right now, so that wasn't a possibility.

 _And_ since Sasuke's muscles were more sore than normal (he guessed maybe he had overdone it a bit the night before), he decided to do something else.

He decided to go for a walk.

Stepping out of his dorm room at around six thirty in the morning- according to his internal clock- Sasuke started his walk around the KIA compound, strolling past the research center and the Director's building, thinking of training techniques, going over each one in his mind. At some point, his mind wandered to his assessments, to whether or not he would make it to breakfast that day, until eventually he found himself coming to a stop, staring at the outdoor training arena, his thoughts back to echoing Itachi's words.

' _I think maybe Naruto just wants to be recognized by you the most.'_

Okay, thanks Itachi, but now how should he handle this situation then?

Sasuke didn't know how to handle this situation, at _all_. Actually, he didn't even know if his brother was _right_ (but he probably was). Should he acknowledge it? Should he pretend he had never heard what Itachi had said?

 _I'll just be indifferent_ , Sasuke decided, turning away from the training arena. _I just won't react anymore, then maybe he'll stop and this will all go away_.

God, he hoped so.

The rest of his morning passed by quickly after that. Sasuke tried to push his thoughts on the subject of Naruto and Itachi's words to the far, far corner of his mind. If he was lucky, maybe the thoughts would end up leaking out and he'd never have to think about it again.

Sasuke reached the arena early, munching on the breakfast bar he had gotten from the dinner hall. He was done before the time everyone else had arrived, just now waiting for Kakashi, who didn't come for another thirty minutes, offering a pathetic, not even half-assed excuse about 'getting lost on the path of life'. And this was supposed to be his squadron leader, too.

Oh joy.

"Today, we'll be doing some exercises and general combat practice to work on your stamina. You'll be working with partners as I assign them, so that means you should just step away from your friends now, because you most likely will not be paired up with them. Once you're paired up, I'll explain what you'll be doing. Questions?"

Sasuke listened as he called off all the names and their partners, and could only sigh when he suspected who his partner would end up being, because apparently, that's just how the universe worked. That, or Kakashi somehow knew about their dislike for each other (more like Naruto's dislike for _him_ ) and wanted to mess with them.

Either way, he couldn't find it in himself to be surprised.

"And… let's go with TenTen and Neji, and Sasuke and Naruto. Any questions? Good," Kakashi paused, and in that time Sasuke looked over at Naruto, certain the blonde would be surprised, maybe even a little angry, about the situation. But he only had this slow, dawning look on his face, as if something was just occurring to him. "Get together with your partner and grab one of the mats over at the far wall. Once you're both standing on opposite sides of the mat, I'll explain our first exercise."

Everyone around Sasuke moved as soon as he finished his sentence, partnering up with their partners and heading to grab their mats. Sasuke himself made his way over to Naruto, who hadn't moved an inch since their names were called, staring straight ahead, lost in his own world.

"Hey, are we going to get this over with, or what?" Sasuke tried. "I don't want us being the ones to hold everyone up."

Naruto's face was hard to read. Sasuke had to admit, the blonde was good at hiding his emotions from others, but he didn't know if that was something he had worked on for training, or if something else had happened for him to be like this.

After a second, Naruto just blinked again, and he just nodded. "Yeah... Let's get this over with."

The blonde turned on his heel and started making his way to the far wall where the mats where, and Sasuke followed behind him.

When they had everything set up, Kakashi began to explain their exercise, demonstrating the basic moves they would be going over, slowly of course, and telling them the other person would just let it happen after a few times, but then start working on dodging it. Only half of the group was listening to him, wishing for him to just begin the exercise.

"After you do this for, oh, maybe half an hour or so, we'll switch to things more advanced and continue from there," he stated. "At the end of today, I need to talk to all of you about tomorrow's assessment."

That sparked everyone's interest, even Sasuke's own, but their instructor didn't say anything more on the subject. Instead, he gave them a bored "begin", and everyone was forced to comply.

Between them, they decided that Sasuke would be the one who was practicing the move and Naruto would receive, then dodge it. Around the time they were about to practice dodging, Kakashi called out, "Oh, and make sure to speed it up a bit! You can't call it dodging unless you're _actually_ avoiding the hit."

It felt like a challenge, the way Naruto's eyes narrowed and turned to Sasuke, as if betting he couldn't hit him if he tried. Sasuke's eyes narrowed right back, and suddenly, it all felt normal again.

The move they practiced was a maneuvered kick to the side, a basic technique they had learned in their first week at the Academy. But Sasuke had learned from his brother how to perfect it, how to hit his opponent guaranteed. How to make the impact hurt, even for a spy, who spend so much time training, that their pain tolerance was very, _very_ high.

Sasuke took Naruto up on his silent challenge, getting into his stance and Naruto into his own.

The first time, Sasuke hit Naruto with no problem, the blonde wincing and shaking off the pain a little. It made Sasuke smirk a little. The same happened with the second time, and the third. The fourth, the fifth. But by the fifth time, something had changed in Naruto's gaze.

When Sasuke tried for the sixth time, Naruto moved so quickly, Sasuke almost didn't land a hit on him. Same with the seventh. The eighth, the ninth. Soon, it was all Sasuke could do, just landing a good hit on him.

His reaction time was fast, very fast, but Sasuke landed a hit on him each and everytime. That's what he focused on. It certainly wasn't in the spot he'd _aimed_ for, but it was close enough.

Just as Naruto started to slip further and further in each of his dodges, Kakashi called for a switch of partners as he walked around, watching everyone to make sure they were doing things correctly. He hadn't been saying much, Sasuke had noted, just walking around, commenting only when someone was atrociously wrong.

So they switched. Sasuke, of course, dodged every single attempt, but Naruto had almost gotten him a couple of times, barely missing him by an inch. Not that Sasuke would ever admit that aloud, of course. He still held the opinion that Naruto should have been this good in the first place. Or at least training seriously to _be_ this good.

Kakashi switched them through three other exercises, all that did not include fighting with your fists, as they had done in the day before's review, as well as the beginning of their review that day. They trained with guns, not bothering to go over the safety of it, (Because if you didn't know gun safety by now, you surely were an idiot. Plus, the guns didn't _actually_ have bullets in them, just paint bullets, which were _much_ less likely to put a hole through somebody) and instead getting right to the point- shooting as many moving targets in the gun section of the arena as possible. Sasuke hit every single one.

After that was stealth and weapon training (other than guns, because if you're up against a gun with a measly, close range combat weapon, you were most likely done for), where they practiced with knives (sticks when they were with a partner, actual knives on a dummy) and at one point, Kakashi had even thought it was a good idea to bring out the nunchucks, to which both TenTen and Rock Lee nearly beat every single one of them ( _nearly_ being the key word here).

At the end of the exercises, before they put away the weapons they had been using (which Sasuke went ahead and did anyway), Kakashi called them all into one spot, bored as ever ( _Seriously_ , did he have to look like that all the time?).

"Tomorrow's assessment will most likely include everything we've reviewed over the past two days," Kakashi began. "Depends on where your specialties lie. I can't tell you _what_ the assessment would be, however, so there is no preparing before tomorrow. Just come in with your skills, and every single one of you should be fine."

There was a silence as everyone listened closely, holding on to every single word Kakashi said. The silver haired man let that silence drag on a little longer - Sasuke was beginning to suspect the man liked being dramatic and troublesome to make up for his bored attitude - before continuing briefly.

"Tomorrow, you will be assessed not individually, but as a team. So I suggest strongly that you try and get along with your teammates, even just for the duration of the assessment. You don't have to like them, and they don't have to like them, just get along." Kakashi let that sit with them, before sighing. "You'll be meeting up with your team and your squad leader at a specific spot at seven tomorrow morning, which I'll tell each of you where in a minute, and from there they'll lead you to your examination site. That clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Now, Team Six, your squad leader, Gai, has asked you to meet him at the research center. Team Eight, Kurenai wants you in front of the Genin dorm. Team Ten, you're all meeting Asuma outside the Director's office. Team Seven," Kakashi locked eyes with Sasuke for a moment, his gaze boring into him, before moving on. "You'll be meeting me at the outside training arena. Everyone know where they're meeting? Good. If not, I'm sure your teammates heard, so just pretend like you know and ask them later. You're dismissed."

Sasuke waited a moment as everyone started to put away whatever they had been using, having already put his own away, before starting to leave the arena, when he saw a sheepish blonde standing in his path, and hand held up in for him to stop. Sasuke cocked a curious eyebrow, and Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. It was weird to see him like this, not serious and intent to fight, or aggravated by Sasuke's very presence. He had actually _sought_ Sasuke out. Miracles _do_ happen, apparently.

"Uh, I just- I wanted to say.." Naruto trailed off a bit.

"Are you going to say whatever it is or are you just going to stand there and look sheepish until lunch starts?" Sasuke asked him, hoping desperately to get himself out of the situation as quickly as possible. "Because I'm afraid I can't wait that long."

"Bastard! I'm trying to-" Naruto took a deep breath, mouthing something to himself that Sasuke couldn't quite make out, calming himself. "I just wanted to say that, one, your kicks _really_ hurt, and two, you- you're actually quite impressive and I, uh, look forward to working with you. On the same team. So uh- yeah."

Sasuke blinked, opening his mouth to say something - not that he knew _what_ to say - but Naruto was already turning to dash away.

"See you tomorrow!"

Sasuke watched as Naruto practically ran over to meet up with Sakura and Ino, who laughed at him, most likely for how he ran away from Sasuke as if he had the plague… or something.

All the while Sasuke couldn't help the thought that ran through his mind as he followed after everyone else, ignoring the way his face felt a little warmer than before, blaming it on the training catching up with him.

 _What a moron_.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:** _**Naruto Uzumaki**_

It was early. _Way_ too early, for Naruto at least.

Sasuke had made a ruckus in getting ready that morning, on purpose, no doubt. When Naruto accused him of doing so, Sasuke gave him a blank look, before stating in an equally blank voice, "Even if I was doing it on purpose, it would only be so you're up and functioning during the assessment- _not_ half asleep and dead to the world. We need all of our team to work together as efficiently as possible, so you may as well get up anyways."

Then, that bastard continued to get ready as loudly as possible, making it impossible for Naruto to go back to sleep.

When they arrived later at the outdoor training arena, Sakura was already there, checking over her supplies for the day as she hummed to herself, completely uninterested in their arrival.

"Good morning, Sakura," Naruto greeted her in a tired voice, yawning slightly as he stood beside her, still waking up despite having been up for half an hour. Sakura only hummed in response.

As of last night, Sakura had warmed up to him quite a bit, though Naruto was seventy percent sure it was because of how he had made a fool of himself, running away from Sasuke like that. It had been _nerve wracking_ , okay, give him a break! All he's ever said to the bastard was insults and challenges, but it was… strange to compliment him, if you could even call it that. But it wasn't a bad strange.

Anyway, after that fiasco, Sakura was more open to him, even allowing both Ino _and_ Naruto to hang and lean on her, yapping away in her ear and just being over all lazy. It had been fun, and Naruto was genuinely happy that the three of them were now friends. As awkward as he was at times (he had no idea how far friendships went and what all was okay, so _that_ was a bit of a barrier), but neither of them had seemed to mind at all. Which was good- great in fact. They made him feel comfortable and that's all he really needed.

Sasuke didn't greet Sakura, or say anything at all, he just huffed, standing as far away from both of them as he could, while still being in the area, staring off into the distance. Naruto wondered dimly if something was there to capture the bastard's attention like that, but he didn't ask.

Finally seeming satisfied with her supplies, Sakura looked up from her utility belt and gave Naruto a friendly smile, which he returned effortlessly, before dropping her head on his shoulder like she was planning on taking a nap then and there.

It was six forty-five by that point. They were all fifteen minutes early- awaiting their squad leader's arrival.

Kakashi showed up two minutes before seven, to the surprise of the three, a serious look in place of his usual, bored expression. He looked the three of them over one before nodding to himself. "Good, we're all here. Let's go onto your assessment. Follow me."

Kakashi led them to the edge of the KIA's grounds, passed the outdoor training arena, until they reached their destination, Naruto guess, by the way their instructor stopped in front of the fence, spreading his arms out in a 'here we are' sort of gesture.

"This is where your assessment will be taking place," Kakashi told them.

Behind him were several old looking buildings, each different sizes and widths, and suddenly it dawned on Naruto where they were.

 _The simulation training grounds_.

.Granny Tsunade had brought him a few times, when he was younger and more troublesome (can you believe there was such a time in his life? Scandalous.) to watch certain, incredible, rising KIA recruits as they went through a training simulation. The only reason Naruto had gotten to tag along to these things was often because Shizune, who watched after him and played with him when Granny was busy, had been away on a mission, so really Tsunade had been _forced_ to.

" _Now don't go off yapping about this to your friends at the Academy, brat,"_ Tsunade had told him once in a playful grumble, handing Naruto something to keep him occupied as they watched, and ruffled his hair. " _Or they'll accuse me of giving you special treatment."_

Naruto had grinned brightly at her, excited he couldn't fail this even if he _wanted_ to. He was a curious kid, and no matter how hard he tried, sometimes he wasn't able to stop himself. " _Don't worry, Granny Tsunade, I don't have any friends to yap_ to _!"_

The memory of the sad, worried look she had given him, the gentle way she had rested her hand on his cheek, was enough to pull Naruto out of his memories.

"Now, before we begin, we have a few things to go over. Including your goal for today, and," Kakashi reached into his pocket, pulling something out of it and holding out his hand to show them, "comm units. I'm assuming you all know how to use them, but I've been instructed to inform you again, so I'll keep it brief. These will help you communicate with your teammates, should you split up. They hook around your ear with this part right here," Kakashi pointed to it on one of the three with his other hand, "and it'll pick up everything you say, including loud background noises, which I would not recommend making if you can help it, because it often tends to result in an unpleasant screech that can be heard by all of you. Take one and put it on."

The three of them did as told, each picking up a comms unit and putting it on, Naruto with a little difficulty (he was putting it on backwards, he found out), adjusting it so it would fit on snugly.

"The button in the side turns it on and off. You can discuss codenames after the assessment starts, if you'd like to use them, at least, it won't affect you in anyway. Just if you want some practice," Kakashi stated. "Now, next you'll need..."

Taking off the backpack from his back, Kakashi opened it and pulled out two, folded pieces of paper. He handed one to Sasuke, holding up the second one for them all to see.

"This is the blueprint plans for each of the buildings that you're seeing behind me. That," the man pointed to the one Sasuke was holding, "is the map of the entire surrounding area. You'll need these to complete your goal-"

"What exactly _is_ our goal?" Naruto cut in. Sakura elbowed him and Sasuke shot him a look.

Kakashi's eyes only glinted. "Ah yes, that would be useful, wouldn't it?"

He stared at Naruto, as if waiting for an answer, but Naruto didn't get it until Sakura elbowed him again. He nodded once in response.

Kakashi stared at him for a long moment, but Naruto met his gaze steadily (trying not to fidget all the while, because _damn_ Kakashi was unnerving). Finally, their instructor continued.

"Your goal… your goal for today is to secure a package - this USB stick," he held it up, "and get it back to your Headquarters, or the room circled on your map, preferably with all three of your team members, in six hours. You'll most likely run into some difficulties on your way-"

" _Most likely?_ "

Kakashi shrugged. "We've had people in the past run into little or no difficulty before, usually stealth specialists, but the majority of anyone who goes through this runs into a lot of difficulties. Anyways, you'll each be given a gun with two cases of bullets. However, these are just paint bullets, so be careful putting them in, but don't hesitate to shoot."

As Kakashi continued to explain, Naruto came to one, solid conclusion.

The man was _all over_ the place.

He couldn't seem to stick to one area and explain it, and Naruto found himself slowly falling more and more into a state of absolute _confusion_. Not to mention the amount of times he nearly drifted into his own La La Land to escape the confusion.

Maybe he was doing it on purpose, to test their ability to piece things together under pressure?

Whatever. Naruto could just ask Sakura if he missed anything.

"Well, I believe that's all of it... Questions?"

Not one of the three raised their hand, already knowing he wasn't going to answer if they _did_ have any (that's what teammates are for anyways).

"Good. I'll lead you to the starting room and then we can begin."

The room Kakashi led them to was pretty much just open space, aside from an old table, with only a countdown clock, one speaker, and two metal doors on one of the walls in front of them. He had given them their weapons, all of which were now stowed away into their utility belts, or hidden on their person and then he left with minimal parting words, wishing them good luck in a quick, almost unheard sentence before he was gone, like a flash.

Sakura grumbled at that, displeased with the way he had dashed off so suddenly, and Naruto laughed.

Sasuke, the ever emotionless bastard, tsked and pulled out the blueprint plan, scanning over it in the spare time between now and the assessment. A feeling of nervous excitement settled over them, and they waited in silence.

Each second was like a heavy weight being added to an ever growing pile of nerves and tension- but Naruto could deal with nerves. Most of the time. As a spy you had to deal with nerves, obvious, yes, but everyone has a limit. No matter what you do, you will _always_ have something that makes you nervous or uncomfortable. Something spies learned long ago was to truly control your nerves, you must control your _thoughts_ and you must _act_.

So Naruto shoved his nerves into a box and threw away the key, determined not to open it until after the assessment. Or, better yet, not at all.

All of this metaphorically, of course.

Sakura wringed her hands to his left, staring at the black screen of the timer, and Naruto knew she was going through the same thing. Or already planning out their next step.

Sasuke, the bastard, calmly looked over the blueprint plans.

Naruto scowled, about to snap before he could stop himself, but Granny Tsunade's voice (he didn't even know she was going to be watching over the assessment- he had to stop by the Director's Building later) filled the room with a slight crackle of the speaker.

" _Welcome, new recruits. In an hour, the two metal doors you see in front of you will open and the assessment will officially begin. In the hour before the doors will open, you will be allowed to discuss a plan of action. Keep it quick. Prepare yourselves in this time._

" _This assessment is to test your skills and abilities as a spy, please perform your very best during this time so that you and your team may be ranked accordingly to facilitate choosing the type of missions you will receive in the future._

" _If at any time you feel your team will not be able to complete this mission in the six hours allotted or may hurt themselves more than necessary, or you are unable to continue the assessment, please alert us of this immediately. You will be watched, so talking aloud at all about the problem will stop the assessment._

" _Do not hesitate to use the weapon given to you, hesitation may likely get you 'killed', or in this case, out of commission for the rest of the assessment time. The comms units given to you will send out a low noise to alert you if your wound is fatal, and at that time you will be escorted out and your teammates will fend for themselves without you._

" _Please use the six hours given to you wisely, and we wish you good luck."_

The speaker went out with another crackle and they were all left staring at a silent speaker. Another moment later, the timer of the wall sprung to life with a mechanical beep, ticking down from _1:00:00_.

 _The assessment had officially begun_.

"Alright.. So where do we begin?" Naruto said into the silence of the room. Sasuke was the first to react, pulling out the second map and placing both on the table in the middle of the room, spreading them out and carefully scanning each.

"First, we need to discuss codenames and the possibilities of where this USB could be," he said as Naruto and Sakura gathered around the table to look over the maps with him. "Then we can discuss our plan. But we need to be quick, we only have an hour."

"Right."

They set right to work, assessing the weapons they had between the three of them, rolling out the map and blueprints and using them to start laying a plan.

Something Naruto hadn't fully grasped onto before entering the assessment: he was going to have to _memorize_ the maps, as there was only one of each copy. His eyes widened when Sasuke had relayed the information to them, but Sakura didn't seem so bothered by it. He'd just have to memorize it as much as he could, and if he forgot the rest, he'd check everything he found and hope to God he was going the right way.

"Since we aren't sure of the security measures they have laid out, or even the location of the USB stick, we won't really be able to have a concrete plan before going in," Sasuke pointed out. He had quickly taken over the whole situation, which annoyed Naruto to the very core, but he didn't argue against it. Sasuke was, no matter how much Naruto wanted to deny it, their best option to completing this mission. "Most of this will be based off of logic, guess work, and checking out each room as we go along, though I'm not sure how their security will affect us doing that-"

"Well, it's got to be here, right?" Sakura cut in, pointing to the highest floor in the blueprint plans. "Logically, it's the safest place for it to be, they can have steady security here and it gives them more time to shut us down before we reach them."

Naruto stared at the blueprint plans, trying to get the gears in his head to work together properly. Somehow, while that statement was true, Naruto couldn't find it in himself to agree that _that's_ where it would be. It seemed too easy to figure out- these were the best spies of the Konoha Intelligence Agency who had way more experience than the three of them. 'Safe,' 'easy,'and 'logic' weren't exactly words one would apply to them.

But Sasuke didn't seem to think the same, as he hummed slightly, as if mulling it over. "You're right, logically, that makes the most sense. We'll split up and check out the three rooms at the top and make our way down if we happen to be wrong. Now, Hatake said we didn't _have_ to use codenames-"

"I want to," Naruto blurted out, the first time he had voiced anything since they had arrived. Unusual for him, yes, but to get through this assessment, Naruto figured it was best to leave it to them. "I think we should use codenames for, y'know… practice."

It was quiet for a moment, as if waiting to hear a pin drop, and Naruto thought he was surely going to be shut down, when Sakura's emerald eyes gleamed, and suddenly, his faith in them becoming the best of friends grew in tenfold. "Let's do it. I call assigning them."

"No! If we do it, _I_ want to assign them! I spoke up first!"

"So?"

" _So_ I get first dibs!"

Sasuke's jaw visibly clenched in irritation and Naruto grinned. "Both of you, stop. If we do codenames, we're all picking our _own_ , you hear?"

"But I already have one for you both! Sakura's Bubblegum and you're Emo Bastard!" Naruto said, pointing to each of them and giving them their names.

Sakura bursted out laughing and Sasuke's eyed twitched dangerously.

"You _moron_ , we are _not_ using those!"

"Why not, Emo Bastard? I quite like them." Sakura laughed even harder, and Naruto chuckled, making Sasuke's scowl deepen.

"You're annoying." Sasuke took a calming breath. "And sober up, Haruno, it wasn't _that_ funny. We're in the middle of an assessment, can't you both be _serious_?"

Sakura wheezed, a hand on her chest, as if that would stop herself from laughing, also taking deep calming breaths. "I'm sorry but he- oh god, he said that to your _face_ so bluntly, and your expression-" she wheezed again, and took a moment to gather herself up. Naruto couldn't help chuckling. "But you're right, we need to focus on the assessment before anything else. I like the one Naruto gave me, so I'm going to use it. You two?"

"If we have to do this, I'm going with Eagle," Sasuke grunted.

"Alright, Emo Bastard it is," Naruto and Sakura both snickered over the look Sasuke gave him. "As for me, I'll be Fox."

Sakura 'oohed' at his choice, and Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Alright, Moron it is."

"Hey! That's rude, only I can do that!"

"Shut up, _Moron_."

"Offensive! I-"

" _Fifteen minutes until the doors open_."

The playful atmosphere that had built up dissipated before their eyes, the three of them turning to take a look at the timer on the wall.

 _0:14:56_

"It's almost time," Naruto heard himself mutter. His teammates nodded, and they all set back to work silently, checking over their weapons, resources, and maps again, packing them away into their backpacks.

 _0:7:38_

The rest of the time was spent in an anxious silence. Seven minutes. Six minutes. Five minutes.

Naruto felt like exploding with emotion, but he kept quiet.

 _Four minutes._

 _Three._

 _Two._

 _...One_.

"Doors are opening. Goodluck."

After they left the room, just standing barely outside of the two metal doors, they started to close, and Naruto and his teammates stared as they did, shutting slowly, but firmly, with a loud series of clicking.

"Let's go," Sakura's voice cut into the silence left behind. "Don't forget to turn on your comms, both of you."

Sasuke made a noise of agreement somewhere to Naruto's other side, and when he turned around to face them, both were already gone without a sound or disturbance in the air, and after another second of hesitation, Naruto disappeared down one of the hallways as well, pressing the button on the comms unit to turn it on, a crackle filling his ears for a split moment.

" _-are you there?_ " Sakura's voice asked in his ear, testing out the comms. " _Fox, do you copy?"_

"I hear you, Bubblegum," Naruto replied in a low voice, making his way through the hallway. If his memory served right, there should've been a corner just over here- ah, there! "Emo Bastard?"

Naruto could only imagine Sasuke grumbling and the thought made him chuckle a little.

" _Present."_

"Good. Now, everyone follow what we have already, and we'll build off of what we have when we figure out what they have in store for us."


End file.
